Right Size.

Our little Owen is just the right size to walk underneath the office desk and he loves it!He gets into all sorts of things. The trash can, an old keyboard, cords, you name it Mike has it hidden underneath there and Owen finds it. He's sneaky about it too. He walks, then crawls over and under the chair and the disappears... until you hear him banging on the keyboard. His head is a mere centimeters shy of hitting the desk. Watch out growth spurt, in another month or so it won't be that easy anymore Owen.

Cousins.

Carter loves to watch his cousin Emma on the computer and we've been practicing for the arrival of his newest cousin Brooklyn Dille in Idaho. Welcome to the family "baby brooke."


We still have two more cousins, Landon and Jarom's names to work on. But we figured it was only fair to have the ladies first and by Thanksgiving he'll have them all down.

Look Who's....

11 Months.Walking.
Squatting.
Clapping.
Pushing up on his own to standing.
Drinking from a sippy cup.
And having a fabulous time at the playground!
Owen.

Go Aggies.

Last night was throw back to our college days.
Utah State was in College Station to play the "other" Aggies, Texas A&M. So as the good alumni that we are, we braved the sea of maroon and showed up dressed in blue to support our Aggies. There were only a small handful of blue fans out there, we stuck out to say the least. We went with our good friends Scott and Lindsay and left the kids home with sitters. It really did feel like we were back in Logan -hanging out at a game, no kiddos- and then the mass cheering/traditional songs/ yell captains? began from A&M and nope, we definitely weren't back in Logan. It was a great experience to see football Texas style.

Utah State didn't win. However we did score the first touchdown and were ahead for awhile.

Here are the boys showing their support for USU.

These are from Labor Day when we dressed up in our favorite team logos for free chick-fil-a.

Bounce.

Owen loves to bounce.
When he's happy, when he hears music, as he anxiously awaits his bottle, he bounces. Now he's starting to get a little air when he bounces in his crib. This is a video from the end of nap time last week.

Sunday.

Another Sunday.

It's been A week.
Let's hope next week is different.

Back Seat Driver.

Brings a new meaning to Back Seat Driver...
Owen sits in the drivers seat and Carter pushes and steers from the back.
Although sometimes Owen puts it in reverse.At least Owen knows when to bail out before Carter takes over the drivers seat. I hope this isn't a sign as to what kind of driver he will be. Owen loves to climb in and out and pull up on and push their little cozy coupe. What an investment.

Home Improvements.

We've been working on some home improvements over the past week.

First, the yard. It needed an overhaul and got it.
Next, the master closets and master bedroom received a complete deep clean and de-clutter.
Then, on to the study for deep cleaning and some purging of things we no longer use, read, or need. (You can imagine how big my DI pile is getting at this point.)
Finally, the big project last week was installing a back splash and painting the cabinets in our master bath. We're pretty happy with results.

BeforeAfter

For the Kids.

While Mike has been on vacation this week we've stuck around town accomplishing things on our long to-do list for the house and doing things just for the kids. Like our trip to the Children's Museum on Wednesday. The boys loved it. It was a rainy day in the middle of the week so the museum was empty. Perfect conditions for a fun afternoon inside to explore.

First we explored the tot area. They had things for both guys. Slides, Cars, toys, soft things to climb on, ramps, a kitchen play area, a reading area, in general it was a "run a muck" in a controlled area and see new things exhibit for the babies.
Owen loved the larger mirror and took more steps today that we were able to catch on video.

This is a cow puppet Carter "borrowed" from the museum worker. It entertained him for a good ten minutes and he dragged it all over. Here it is riding in the car with him.Where there is a car Carter will find it. We dodged the raindrops and ran in to see the eco exhibit and the chicks hatching. Owen was captivated.

Here's Carter in the science area. Loving the goggles and lab coat. Check out Owen in the background. He's still too little for this part of the museum. Really, a lot of the things were a little more advanced even for Carter. He'd have a lot more fun and really "get" more of it in a few years.

I really had no clue what to expect when we got there. I had no idea there were exhibits outside and had I known we would have waited for a sunny day to go. So at the end of the day we let Carter loose in the outdoor water works area. He had a blast and Mike was a great dad to stand out in the rain with him and play with boats and damns, and other water contraptions. He was soaked in the end. Owen and I hid under one of the umbrellas and he was surprisingly happy for a baby with no nap.

I've really come to enjoy the time we get to spend exploring Houston. It still amazes me that we've been here for five years and there is still so much to see. I love our life in the suburbs, but enjoy the ability to jump in the car and explore a larger city and what it has to offer. The Children's Museum is another trip I can mark off of my to-do and see list.

First Day.

Tuesday was Carters first day of school. We signed him up for Mothers Day Out at a local church. It's a really great program and they offer preschool as well. Mothers Day Out is really structured and almost like a pre-preschool. He is in a class of 12 kids his age with two teachers. His first day went really well. He was thrilled to have a backpack and lunch sack and ran around the house with both of them for 30 minutes before we left. I even impressed myself and made him fancy name labels for both and his nap mat. When we got to school he ran right into his classroom, gave me a kiss and went off to play with the trucks. When I picked him up I was happy to find out he only had one accident at nap time. Not bad for a little guy who really only tells me, and sometimes daddy he needs to "go." His teacher told me Carter was a very kind child. Fantastic! The first day was a success, let's hope tomorrow, day 2, goes just as well.
Taking a before school picture with Owen, who was pretty happy to hang out with both parents all morning without the competition of Carter.
Mike is taking vacation this week so he was able to come with us on the first day.

Walking.

After frequent baby steps, a few here or there over the past few weeks, Owen decided to step it into full gear and show off today at the Children's Museum. Just in time for me to be able to say he started walking at 10 months.


He's such a cautious little guy. Wants to be sturdy and stable before he explores the world on two legs. He also did some baby squats today, two in a row. I have to admit it was a good day for Owen.

Buds.

Carter and Tayson are the best of buds.A month ago Lindsay and I were shopping and ran into the cutest pair of monster truck pjs and thought it would be fun for the boys to match. This past weekend we finally had a chance to put them together in their pjs and take a few pictures.
I think they were both pretty excited.After taking pictures Tayson showed Carter how to jump off the stairs. Watch and see how careful and skilled Tayson is. Then there is Carter, just not very careful. There's never a dull moment with these two.

He Reads, He Climbs.

Carter now reads (looks at the pictures and points to things he can say while jabbering with a few words mixed in) to himself while on the potty. We still have accidents occasionally, but I have to remember he's just barely 2 and I feel like I can still say he's potty trained. I'm a little worried about him starting MDO school on Tuesday. I have already told myself if he digresses I will take him out. I am not putting him back in diapers and I'm worried he won't tell anyone he needs to go. There are some big changes heading our way and it will be impressive to see how we all handle them.

Owen is definitely a climber just like Carter was. Up the stairs, over Carter and now in and out of the toy box. We went to a soft play park last week and he was climbing up the slides and onto everything he could. He's also now up to three steps and will cling to the walls in each room to walk. It's hard to believe I'm about to have two extremely mobile little boys. I can't even imagine what things both of my boys will climb on and jump off of when they get bigger... I'm in trouble.